Monday, 7 July 2014

Interview - Aruna Mohanty: The thinking dancer - Sutapa Patnaik

Odissi dancer-choreographer-guru Aruna Mohanty is known
globally for her innovative productions that harmoniously
blend indigenous explorations with contemporary cultural
sensibilities. While 15 out of her 59 compositions are
based on the 12th century saint poet Jayadeva’s Geeta
Govinda, she has also explored with equal ease unusual
themes like the Odisha super cyclone, Krishna for the
contemporary world, apart from some modern Odia poetry.
Her latest venture is based on German Nobel laureate
Hermann Hesse’s Siddhartha. Her research on
representation of the male dancer in classical sculpture
and evolution of Odissi in the post-Independence era are
widely appreciated.
Here are some excerpts from an interview conducted at her
Bhubaneswar home recently dealing with her thoughts on the
art of choreography.Are you aware that you are widely recognized as a
thinking dancer?
It is nice to know that people consider me to be a
thinking dancer. But I don’t think I am God’s Sunday
creation. Everyone learns by observing people and from the
environment one is in. I am very fortunate that in my
journey of dance, which began in the 1960s, I met people
who were very generous. My parents, my gurus and
well-wishers have all helped me see the road ahead of me.
Like a child, I continue to learn from authority figures,
peers and people I’m surrounded with. I’m always hungry to
know more and to appreciate people for their good work.
This helps me to learn a few things which I try and
incorporate into my work. I haven’t stopped learning
because I think I have so much more to learn, and I’m
doing so little. In that, I’m like a student; and I do
think. But then, every dancer does. The sad part is, very
few dancers communicate their ideas through their work,
while most refrain from expressing in action what they
think because either they are too happy following a set of
guidelines to project their art, or they believe people
will not understand their viewpoint and hence withhold
their creative potency.